Vulcanizadora (2025) Review – Joel Potrykus Delivers a Haunting Indie Dark Comedy

Vulcanizadora – Movie Review

Directed by Joel Potrykus | Written by Joel Potrykus | Starring Joel Potrykus, Joshua Burge

Release Date: May 2nd, 2025 | Review Published: April 29th, 2025

In Vulcanizadora, the latest indie film from writer-director Joel Potrykus, two men hike through the woods, exchanging a strange, unsettling conversation. One of them, played by Potrykus himself, is agitated—he’s lost his keys on the bus. The other, portrayed with eerie calm by Joshua Burge, questions the importance of the keys altogether. It’s a moment that jolts the audience. Who doesn’t worry about losing keys? Most of us rely on them for our homes, our cars—our sense of security.

This quiet defiance of logic sets the tone for Vulcanizadora, a unique and haunting dark comedy-drama. If this moment intrigues you, chances are you’ll find yourself pulled into the film’s offbeat rhythm and unnerving atmosphere. I certainly was. As I watched, my thoughts spiraled into darker territory: Was this a setup for a murder-suicide? Was one man a hired killer? Or were they pact-bound partners on a grim mission?

It’s disturbing, the places your mind may go while watching, but Vulcanizadora invites such speculation. The dialogue is minimal but revealing, peeling back layers of both characters as they trudge forward. Potrykus’s character talks incessantly, often obnoxiously, and seems completely unaware of how grating he is. Burge’s character, on the other hand, is silent, burdened, and increasingly ominous.

Their dynamic deepens the suspense. The talkative man is fully equipped for a hike—gear, stories, constant diversions. The other man carries only a small bag and a growing sense of finality. He’s not planning on coming back. We soon learn why: he’s facing prison time for arson and has no intention of going. Meanwhile, his hiking partner mourns a lost connection with his son, Jeremy, whom he’s forbidden to see for unexplained reasons.

The tension escalates, step by step, in both plot and tone. Through minimalist storytelling and slow-burning dialogue, Vulcanizadora asks us to examine these men not just as characters, but as metaphors. The film’s obscure title references a process for hardening rubber—testing how much fire it can withstand before it breaks down. That metaphor becomes painfully apt. How much emotional heat can these men take before they snap?

Whether you’re drawn to indie films, character studies, or slow-burn psychological dramas, Vulcanizadora is a film worth seeking out. It’s blunt, distant, and difficult, yet deeply compelling.

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Vulcanizadora (2025)

Statement from director Joel Potrykus

"One of my biggest concerns about fatherhood is that I’d soften up and start telling stories of hope and inspiration. Five years after the birth of my one and only son, and I'm mostly consumed with fears of inadequacy, abandonment, and mortality; going to prison by accident, falling off a cliff by accident, jumping off a cliff by accident. Vulcanizadora is my most heartfelt and personal, but not in a good way. It’s my most sincere and emotional, but also my bleakest and most haunting."

Oscilloscope Laboratories will be releasing Joel Potrykus' shocking, acclaimed black comedy VULCANIZADORA in cinemas, in limited release on May 2nd, 2025. The film had its official premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival.